The Unintentional Hiatus

I mentioned in the fall that December is a very busy time for pretty much everyone in my profession.

I really did not think that it would result in a total lack of writing for two whole months.  December delivered on its usual promise of joy and mayhem, and January really ended up feeling like a continuation of the mayhem...but less joyful.

But I will tie up a few loose ends here tonight, and I will try to write more regularly again.  Like all things worth doing, it is a discipline and a habit that must be cultivated.

First, I did not win the Weight Loss Challenge at work.  What did I learn from this experience?  I learned that money does not motivate me whatsoever to change anything about my nutritional or exercise habits.  My feelings about my health and appearance seem to have no relationship to my desire to have a bit more extra cash.  Frankly, I'm mildly surprised by this realization.  Over the course of a few months, I lost a net of 2 pounds.  At one point I was down 7 pounds, but 5 came back before we were done.  I find that I value the social experience of feasting during the holidays, and that I am willing to splurge in the name of having a great experience and memory untainted by worry over whether something is good for me.

Secondly, while I DID take pictures of my rooms to post on here in order to display their improved features, I apparently need to label the picture files more descriptively on the computer before trying to use them, because now I can't find them in order to post said pictures and show off my improved classroom arrangements.  That project is currently on the back burner, however, as I have more urgent projects going at the moment.  Probably by the time I am ready to post about that, I'll have come up with a new and more exciting set of displays and more efficient arrangements, and will end up writing about those instead.  I suppose that is okay, as long as I end up with continued improvements and better ideas!


On a final note tonight, I am glad that January is coming to a close.  While there have been some nice moments, on the whole I must say that it has been rather stressful and frustrating.  I've spent the entire month without my own school computer, since my district assigned laptop completely died back in December and neither of my classrooms contain even so much as an ancient desktop.  That situation will be remedied by the end of this week, however, as its replacement will be delivered into my hands as soon as a certain piece of paper has the proper signatures and is returned to the proper office.  You can believe that I will be eager to see that happen as soon as possible!  I've had conflicting feedback about the quality of my teaching - with some of my superiors telling me how pleased they are with my progress since switching to elementary school, and others telling me that they are very concerned about my classroom instruction and management.  I've dealt with a return of health issues I had hoped I'd seen the last of, too.  The one resolution I made - fell apart within 2 days of my return to school after New Year's.  January has been a bit of a mess, and I simply cannot allow it to be the pattern for all of 2012.  I will not allow it.

Thankfully, February is generally a wonderful time for me - but maybe I think that mostly because of my birthday.  It also helps that one of my favorite yearly events falls in February - the Texas Music Educators Association Convention.  I will have plenty more to say about that in about two weeks.  The short version is this:  Convention is pure music nerd bliss on steroids, plus I get to see a great many friends and former teachers from high school and college, and hang out on the Riverwalk, and be excused for 1-2 days of school for it.  This year it looks like I will only be out of school for it on Thursday, as most of the clinics I'm dying to see are then, and my principal really does not want me to be out for two full days.  If I were traveling out of town, then I would have to be out Friday also...but it would also be harder for me to get permission to go at all.  At least from this particular principal.  If I had more clinics on Friday that were must-have's for me, then I'd push a little harder...but this year I am lucky I guess, most of what I want to see falls on Thursday and Saturday.  If it makes it easier for me to get permission to attend, then I suppose I can be okay with that.  Besides, I really like my Friday classes.  :-)

So I am looking forward to February, there are great things to look forward to, some of which I have not detailed here.  I am really looking forward to March, but that is a story for another day...  Goodnight!